Not really music related, but this movie is a must-see for all those who know Jamaica only from a tourists view. It explains how economy works for small and USA / World Bank - dependend countries like Jamaica. Full-length on googlevideo.

Utilizing excerpts from the award-winning non-fiction text "A Small Place" by Jamaica Kincaid, Life & Debt is a woven tapestry of sequences ... all » focusing on the stories of individual Jamaicans whose strategies for survival and parameters of day-to-day existence are determined by the U.S. and other foreign economic agendas. By combining traditional documentary telling with a stylized narrative framework, the complexity of international lending, structural adjustment policies and free trade will be understood in the context of the day-to-day realities of the people whose lives they impact.

Heart and soul of the vibrating reggae music culture always have been the 7" 45rpm singles. But times are changing fast. The output of Jamaican music is so high that producers give it out as promo cd to djs and radiostations. From here the songs make their way to the filesharing networks. That's where the music fans get it from. By the time the official record is out, the hardcore-fan already heard it too often and has newer stuff in the player.Most DJs and reggae soundsystems already switched to cd players. Only in Europe you still might find the traditional medium.

How will the change of the medium change the music?The circle how we see it at the moment, is not very satisfying for producers and artist. Of course they have more promotion options, but still no income - even if the song is a club hit.

A big chance might be legal mp3s. Europe's biggest reggae distributor, Soundquake, just launched a mp3-Store. Now the reggae market has a chance, to be on time and make some money.

Read an interview with Soundquake about their new store (in German) with a nice comment by dhm's Bass.

A must read is the article in the latest issue of Wired about the Trojan Records 40th anniversary:

Certainly, the genre's cutting-edge production techniques and intoxicant-friendly island vibe have earned it the highest respect among producers, musicians and DJs. But it is the reggae producers' penchant for turning out remixes and cover versions of popular songs that has left the biggest impression on today's share-alike digital culture.

"Reggae is all about the mashup," says Paul Miller, widely known as DJ Spooky, one of the compilers celebrating Trojan's 40th year. When putting together his own mix, In Fine Style: 50,000 Volts of Trojan Records, Miller discovered the Jamaican knack for recycling the hits.